


girl among cosmos

by anthropologicalhands



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, First Crush, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 08:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2725655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anthropologicalhands/pseuds/anthropologicalhands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The question at hand is not who is bringing cosmos to the Uchiha household, but rather why they are doing so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	girl among cosmos

It starts, obviously enough, with flowers. A bundle of yellow cosmos, wrapped in tissue and tied with a red ribbon. Auntie is always sending Mama flowers for no reason at all, which is why Sarada’s suspicions are not immediately roused.

Instead, what confuses her is the lack of a messenger. Almost since he could walk, Inojin has held the responsibility of ferrying his mother’s flowers from their shop to the Uchiha household. Sometimes he stays only long enough to say hello before running off to other errands. Other times he might come in for juice and sit with Sarada for a while, either to talk or just watch TV.

However, they are not in the Academy anymore and thus opportunities to see Inojin are rare. So when she comes home from training to find the flowers on the welcome mat, she is less concerned with their presence than the fact that Inojin did not wait long enough to make sure she got them. Especially since his mother is very protective of her flowers and would not be happy if anything were to happen to them.

Sarada brings them into the house, places them in a nice glass vase in the kitchen where Mama will see them. Sarada loves cosmos flowers—how cheery and vibrant they are. Her mama loves them too, for something to do with when she first became friends with Aunt Ino.

\--

She sees Inojin a couple of days later, while he’s tending to the plants in front of his shop. She calls out to him; he looks up from the roses and waves with his watering can, nearly bludgeoning Konohamaru as he passes by.

They exchange pleasantries—yes, ShikaInoCho training is going fine, Bolt tried to do something stupid yesterday, the general eccentricities of their respective parents—

It is not a long conversation—Sarada has training and her sensei is strict about tardiness, but she does manage to ask why he did not deliver the flowers in person.

He shrugs, rubbing the back of his head. “Um, Mom asked me to make a lot of deliveries, so I didn’t have the time to say. Why do you want to know?”

He looks a little green as he asks her the question; Sarada decides he probably was getting into mischief with Chouchou or Shikadai (or both) and doesn’t want Ino to know.

“I was just curious,” she says, waving it away. “But tell your mom thank you—cosmos are my favorites.”

Inojin smiles then, lopsided and a little awkward, but strangely charming nonetheless.

“I thought so,” he says.

\--

The next day, there are cosmos again, but no Inojin.

This time Sarada is a little more confused. Auntie never sends the same flowers two days in a row.

Inojin is out when she stops by the flower shop, and Aunt Ino looks cranky even if she does have a smile for her favorite goddaughter, so Sarada excuses herself quickly without asking and tells herself that it is probably a coincidence.

\--

The next next day, cosmos _again_.

She sees Inojin this time as he is leaving the shop, but he seems to pick up speed even as she is calling for him, and has enough of a head start that she loses him in the crowd.

\--

The pattern continues over the next week. Every morning, after Mama has gone to the hospital and before Sarada has training, they appear on the doorstep, never quite at the same time. They run out of vases and Sarada takes to using empty jars and pitchers to hold them all. Inojin is not at the flower shop at times she _knows_ he should be there and in fact she is positive he’s avoiding her, but she can’t figure out why. They don’t always get along, but she’s not mad at him. She just wants to know what he’s doing.

The inside of her house is practically effervescent, and it frustrates her to no end that the flowers show up but Inojin does not, because surely he would know and he could explain and they might have a chance to talk for once—

At her wits’ end, she turns to the one person who knows everything: Mama.

“Why is Auntie sending so many flowers?” Sarada demands when the full seven days have passed with the bright yellow flowers gracing their doorstep. “And why isn’t Inojin delivering them properly?”

Her mother, writing at the kitchen table, looks at her strangely. “You mean these aren’t your flowers, sweetie?”

Sarada shakes her head.

“Huh,” Mama rests her chin on her hand and drums her pen against the table. “Well, Auntie Ino is not the one who has been sending cosmos—I asked her a few days ago. I thought it might be you, since I know you like them so much. Are you sure it’s Inojin?”

“Yes, he told me he was leaving them the _first_ time,” Sarada resists the urge to pull at her hair in frustration. “But I never see him do it and he won’t tell me why. He keeps running away. It’s so _annoying_.”

Mama has a very strange expression on her face. Like she’s not sure whether to frown or start laughing. “Why would you say that, Sarada-chan?”

Sarada blushes and looks at her feet. “I know he’s leaving them; he knows I know he’s leaving them. If he would just tell me _why_ he wouldn’t be so annoying.”

Mama starts laughing. Sarada blushes harder and glares at her.

“ _What?_ ”

“Oh, honey, I think he’s just being shy.”

Sarada gapes.

“Shy?” she manages.

Mama smiles, eyes gleaming.

“ _Inojin?_ ”

Mama nods. “Boys can be very shy when they like a girl.”

“Inojin _likes_ me?” Sarada’s voice rises to a squeak.

“Maybe.”

Sarada takes a deep breath, pushes her glasses back up her nose and tries to regain her composure.

“I don’t believe you,” she says, as haughtily as she can manage.

She must sound like Papa, because Mama just starts laughing again. It takes her a little while to stop. Sarada folds her arms and taps her foot, to show Mama that she doesn’t find this to be a laughing matter.

“Sorry, Sarada-chan,” Mama coughs and resettles herself. She points her pen at Sarada. “You’re right—he might not like you. There could be some other reason.”

“So what should I do?”

“Ask him. Go find him after ShikaInoChou training and tell him you are confused and want a clear answer.”

“I-I can do that.” Sarada stands up straight, and hopes Mama doesn’t see how much she is fiddling with the ends of her cardigan. “I’ll ask him what he’s doing.”

“Good.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” Mama looks amused, like she can read Sarada’s mind. Sarada thinks she might understand why Papa gets flustered sometimes when he talks to Mama.

“I’m going to go train now.”

“Do you want me to help?”

Sarada shakes her head.

Mama looks back down at her paperwork. “Don’t work too hard. Dinner is in an hour, and don’t forget that Papa is going to call tonight.”

“I won’t.”

Sarada turns on her heel and goes to her room to grab her kunai. A new thought occurs to her, and she doubles back to stick her head around the sliding screen. “Mama?”

“Yes?”

“…Don’t tell Papa about the flowers.”

Mama puts her hand over her mouth, which at least means she is trying to hide her smile.

“I won’t, Sarada-chan.”

“Good. Because he’d get the wrong idea.”

“Of course.”


End file.
